


Wasn't Expecting That

by margoteve



Series: Blame Disney [8]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, Mentions of other Undertale characters - Freeform, Veteran Grillby, eventual mention of past abuse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-24
Updated: 2016-08-23
Packaged: 2018-07-26 08:32:24
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,973
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7567315
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/margoteve/pseuds/margoteve
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Being a bartender for a long time, Grillby met a fair share of different patrons. Some would pass by only once, some would drop in occasionally. Some would become regulars. Some of the regulars would become friends, but this... he wasn't expecting anything like this.</p><p>A sort of spin-off/side story to Big Pizza Pie circling around Grillby and Sylvia's development of relationship. Starts somewhere after Chapter 3 of Big Pizza Pie.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Umbrella Incident

Grillby sighed heavily staring at the sky and the unholy amounts of water streaming down from the clouds. He was standing outside of Muffet’s Spider Cafe, under the canopy stretched over the cafe terrace. Thankfully he had taken an umbrella with him, otherwise that would have meant he was either stuck in the cafe for unknown amount of time or worse - caught in the rain when it started. He shuddered at the second option.

Placing the paper bag and a cup of coffee down on a table he unwrapped the umbrella and pressed the button to extend the telescopic shaft. Nothing happened. What?

He shook the thing but it stubbornly refused to work. Grillby let out an exasperated noise. Why were inanimate objects so spiteful?

“ _C’mon…_ ” he muttered, getting frustrated, pushing at the runner, trying to help it a bit.

“Grillby!”

Suddenly someone called to him and he spun around abruptly. This moment the umbrella chose to finally cooperate and finally open - of course it did - which resulted in it hitting the other person right in their nose.

“Ow~”

Lowering the umbrella and closing it again he saw a young woman; he remembered Sylvia was her name - a friend of Sans. She was holding the bridge of her nose and wincing in pain. He panicked slightly and reached to her to see if she was alright.

“Ouch. You have interesting way of saying hello,” she chuckled completely unfazed by the accident.

He looked guilty, his shoulders dropped and she could see his flames dim a bit. She had to admit it was kind of adorable when a 6 foot 8 inches guy looked like kicked puppy. Especially if he managed to pull that look without clearly distinguishable features on his face. Must be magic.

“I’m serious. I’m fine,” she dropped her hand from her nose. “How does it look?” she asked and he winced. A bruise was already forming on the side, the hit was pretty close range. “Judging from your silence - not good, huh? I’ll just put some make-up on it later,” she assured him, waving her hand dismissively.

“ _I'm terribly sorry. Can I make it up to you?” H_ e suddenly said and her eyebrows raised.

She didn’t exactly expect to hear him speak. It was… it was a really pleasant sound she decided. It was deep and smooth, with a soft telltale crackle, like a fire over logs in fireplace during a cold winter night. It did a weird thing to her, which for now she ignored.

“I’m… ah… okay!” She perked up instantly taking the offer. “Buy me lunch! I was going to grab my coffee at Muffet’s but if you really want to… why not buy me lunch?” she suggested.

Running into Grillby was a pure luck after the night at his bar. She barely remembered anything from the night, but she certainly remembered the attractive bartender, (what was it with her and bartenders, geeses on crackers). According to Kylie, Sylvia had tipped him ‘based on her scale of ass excellency’. Thankfully she didn’t say that to his face but kept talking about it through the whole damn walk back home. Next day she had a killer headache and questioned the sanity of her ‘drunk self’. She could only hope he didn’t find her too weird, that would have been bad...

He nodded in agreement to her idea, that was acceptable.

There was a small sigh of relief at his reply. There still was a hope! “Okay, then let’s go inside,” she went past him and into Muffet’s Cafe and Bakery.

Sylvia walked up to the counter and greeted Muffet. The spider lady must have known Sylvia before because she replied warmly.

“Oh hello sweetie,” she smiled pursing her lips hiding her fangs. “And you,” she looked at Grillby, “back so soon?”

“... _it’s raining.”_

“His umbrella attacked me,” Sylvia added chirply, “so he’s paying.”

Grillby shifted uncomfortably on his feet.

“Ahuhuhuhu, of course honey. Take a seat. I’ll bring the order to you.”

“Thank you Muffet.”

Sylvia spun on her heel and trotted to the free table, with Grillby shortly following her after he paid for her order. They sat on opposite sides to each other and for a short while they didn’t speak. She ran her hand through her damp hair glancing outside, she looked like she was waiting for something. He also noticed the lack of umbrella.

He sipped from his cup of coffee, not sure how to strike up a conversation. He remembered her flirting from her first visit to the bar. Back then he ignored it and now he wondered if she was going to try and hit on him again.

It didn't look like she was going to start talking but surprisingly the silence wasn't awkward. It was comfortable even. Sylvia was just sitting there arms folded over the table, staring at the window and he… He was watching her.

Soon Muffet brought Sylvia’s order - large latte, a sandwich and some sort of chicken salad. Sylvia thanked her with a smile and the spider monster left with a small chuckle. He wondered what it was about.

Then Sylvia took a good long drink of her steaming hot coffee and he raised his brow. What a strange woman. He knew how hot Muffet makes her coffee, that must have burned Sylvia’s tongue and throat...

“ _... why here?_ ” he finally asked.

“Hmm?” she stared at him for a moment not understanding. “Are you asking me why I come here for lunch?”

He nodded and sipped his coffee.

“Oh, well. It’s pretty close to my work actually,” she explained and took a small stab at the salad. She chewed for a little while before continuing. “I first came here on a dare from a co-worker. You see spiders are not exactly popular among humans and I think they kinda wanted to see if I’d get creeped out.” She chuckled. “Long story short, I didn’t. And I like food here. And yes, I did try the Spider Doughnuts and Spider Cider. They’re not bad if you don’t think about what they’re made of.”

Interesting. “. _..work?_ ”

She nodded, “I’m a tax accountant in a the company that’s round the corner.”

That gave him a pause. Not in a hundred years would he have guessed she was an accountant. Much less a taxation one. She just… didn’t look it. He glanced over her green blazer with big sunflower stitched on one side, soft yellow button up shirt (it was yellow right?) and her pony tail tied up with a band that had daisy on it. He’d assume she was some sort of a teacher maybe.

Seeing his confusion made her giggle. “Surpriiiise! So how long are you running your business Above ground? If I can ask.”

“ _... not a full year,”_ he replied.

“So you were not through the taxing period in human world…” she focused on him, her eyes keen and looking him up and down.

He shook his head.

“But the monsters are above ground for two, almost 3 years now. What held you back?” she inquired further and took another bite of her sandwich.

“ _... I… your paperwork for monster business was… complicated. And… I was reluctant to leave Ebbot_ ,” he explained slowly.

“Would you like some help with the tax papers?” She offered and he blinked behind his glasses.

“ _… yes, that will be nice. Thank you…_ ” he nodded.

It made her smile widely. She took a stab at the salad and another long sip of her coffee. “Awesome. But you’ll have to pay me.”

He tilted his head. Payment…? Of course he should have guessed, she wouldn't be doing that for charity. Before he could ask how much would she want, she spoke quickly:

“With some of your food, while I work. Damn I really loved your grilled sandwich and your burgers are to die for. They would do,” she added cheekily.

Oh, well that was acceptable. He chuckled, hoping he wasn’t blushing. He didn’t expect that from her, or maybe he should have. She was an odd woman. “ _... Thank you._ ”

“You’ll thank me when the tax period comes.”

She pulled out her phone and gave him her number. He quickly typed it into his own phone and gave her a quick call so she could save his number.

“.. _. I’ll call you when I need that help_ ,” he promised.

She winked at him. “You sure will.” Then her head turned to the window once more and suddenly her face lit up like a clear summer day. “The sun is out!” Her smile was wide and childlike, as if Christmas had come sooner that year.

He followed her eyes and indeed - the rain was over.

Sylvia finished her lunch and Grillby finished his coffee and they decided it was time for them to part ways - she had to go back to her charts and columns of numbers, while he had to go prepare his bar for opening.

“See you later.” she waved at him and they went their separate ways.

See you later… Yes, he definitely would like to see her later.


	2. Time Lapse

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some time pass since the meeting at Muffet and Grillby wonders what's going on with Sylvia

After the meeting at Muffet’s Grillby had seen Sylvia rather sporadically.  On odd occasions they would run into each other at the bakery, where they would chat together for a while about their work and day, but usually she’d come to his bar with her friends to relax and then… a woman named Brenna happened.

Something in her didn’t sit well with him. Maybe it was her body language or tone of voice but it just didn't feel right. He also noticed that Lilla and Kylie weren’t exactly pleased to have Brenna there. Sylvia on the other hand was on cloud nine. Always bouncing happily and laughing at whatever joke Brenna said. 

Well, Grillby wasn’t exactly a close enough friend to voice his concerns, he just poured the drinks.

As time flew Sylvia came to his bar with only Brenna as if she was avoiding her other friends. She was less bouncy, more timid. Her clothes, usually so full of colour, started to go bleak, fading into browns, greys and eventually black and white. Then she stopped coming altogether.

The summer faded out, autumn was almost over and winter was threatening to arrive soon.

“Have you seen Sylvia recently, firefly?” Muffet asked him one day cashing in on his pumpkin spice latte. 

He shook his head, taking his order. 

“Real shame,” the spider lady sighed and pouted.

He waved goodbye to Muffet and went to open his bar. It looked like Sylvia has dropped off the face of the Earth.

One day he worked up his courage to ask Kylie about all this. Had they fallen out?

“Who the fuck knows what’s wrong with Via,” she gruffed out and went to sit in a booth.

Lilla just shook her head and went back to talking with Sans.

Grillby realized he missed the human girl. She was endearing with her little flirtations that he took as friendly teasing, something he really grew to like, especially since she took his sass and used it to fuel her lines even more. But now she was gone, and he looked sadly at the place she used to sit.

Well nothing new there, customers come and go. Time to get back to work.

It wasn't until after New Years that Sylvia exploded back into the bar.

Lilla and Kylie were waiting for Sylvia to show up. As they explained they were going to do a bar crawl for Via to bounce back after something they didn't want to talk about. Fortunately they didn’t have to wait long. 

Soon the doors were flung open and Sylvia strutted in. For a second you wondered if her hair was on fire but then you realized she had dyed it bright red, yellow and orange tones, giving it a flaming look. She fluffed her hair up and curled the front strands.

She must have been aiming to give as many people as possible heart attacks.

Her clothes were best described as skimpy - black, leather mini-skirt, black lace and mesh halter top and what she called “hoe shoes” - black platform stilettos with sequins, at least 6 inches tall. 

Suddenly Kylie bumped Lilla’s arm and, gesturing with her head, she whispered: “Look at Grillby,” she giggled, the straw of her drink between her teeth. 

Lilla turned her head and snorted. It generally was hard to tell what sort of expression Grillby was wearing but right now it wasn’t difficult to guess at all. He clearly was staring. He was frozen in his spot, hands idle with the glass and cloth he was holding.

Sylvia finally spotted her friends by the table and sashayed her way towards them.

“You look like a hoe,” Lilla grinned eyeing her outfit.

“Thanks, that was my aim.” she twirled proudly showing off her outfit. The momentary flicker of light on her hair really made it look like she was burning. 

“Impressive hairstyle. Was giving Grillby a dick aneurysm the aim?” Kylie was barely containing a chortled laugh.

Sylvia chuckled but gave Kylie a stern look. “Oh shush you.”

The three of you looked toward the bar where Grillby was pretending to be busy, his face visibly whiter. 

“Do you think he even has a dick? I mean he’s made of fire…” Sylvia wondered.

“Can we continue this dickscussion later? Via, just grab your shots and let’s go,” Lilla shooed her toward the bar.

“Fine, fine, you’re no fun,” she pouted jokingly and went to grab her drinks.

Her friends observed Grillby keenly as Sylvia placed the order. It looked like he really was distracted, but because they sat way too far and his face was covered in flames it was hard to tell where he was looking. They guessed, it must have been the hair. But after Via downed her shots and turned around to come back to them, his head slightly dipped down to where Sylvia’s hips swayed. Oho. Lilla exchanged knowing looks with Kylie. An interesting development. 

The bar crawl was a success. All three were at different stages of inebriation but Sylvia had it the worst. She was absentmindedly stroking Kylie's hair trying to french braid them as the trio stumbled again into Grillby's as he was closing.

“Heeey~. Can we wait here?” Lilla asked him as he was about to inform them the bar was closed. “Papyrus is going to pick Kylie up on his way back home from his shift,” she was drunk mumbling but seemed the most sober out of the three. “Sans' gonna ‘port here and take me home any minute.”

Grillby looked at Sylvia, who Kylie put on a stool and the short woman flopped down over the bar.

“We gonna take ‘er wiff us.” Lilla replied to his silent question.

Suddenly Via grabbed a bowl of peanuts that he had not yet put away and took one peanut, raising it up to Grillby's face.

“Peeaaanut, peeeaaanut~” she sing songed hovering the nut in front of his mouth.

He shot Lilla an alarmed look and she just waved her hand. “She tryn’ ta feed ya. Prolly look hungry,” she giggled. “Jus’ go with it.”

Sylvia stubbornly kept the peanut up until he finally sighed and gave in, eating it.

“Thank you,” she smiled brightly and reach for another peanut, repeating the process.

It drew on until the skeleton brothers arrived to pick the other two girls up.

“i'll be back for flower girl,” Sans said but Grillby stopped him. 

“ _ I’ll get her home _ ,” he offered.

“You sure?” Lilla asked, leaning over Sans. After Grillby nodded she gave him Sylvia's address. It really wasn't far from the bar.

He went back to get Sylvia but apparently she'd fallen asleep while he was talking to the skeletons. With a sigh he scooped her up in his arms and carried to his car. 

There he put her in the back seat and covered her with his jacket. She slept all the way as he drove and as he carried her inside the house (Lilla told him where spare keys were). Then he put her gently in to the bed and as he was going to leave he felt her grab his hand.

“Thank you~” she sing song sleepily and to his utter surprise, kissed his fingers. After that she scooted under the blankets and fell asleep again.

Grillby exhaled shakily then chuckled, she was such a weird girl. On his way back, he made a stop by her kitchen, Lilla mentioned to him that there should be bottled water in the fridge, so he grabbed a glass and one bottle from the bottom shelf and took it to Sylvia’s bedroom, putting it on her nightstand. Then he left, closing the doors behind him and went back to his car.

She came into the bar a couple days later , during her lunch break, a few minutes before he opened it.

“Hey, um… did I do something weird when I was drunk, you know during the bar crawl,” she asked as he put her favourite grilled sandwich down in front of her.

“ _ You hand fed me peanuts, _ ” he deadpanned.

“Oh god,” she covered her face in her hands. “I’m sorry.”

“ _ It’s okay, no one ever tried to feed me before, _ ” he chuckled and she made an incoherent sound.

“Anyway,” she took a deep breath in, a slight blush staining her cheeks, “thanks for getting me home. And for the water.” She said sincerely. “If it was Sans or Lilla I’m certain I’d have vodka in that water bottle, so - thanks.”

“ _ Don’t mention it, _ ” he shrugged. “ _ It was the least I could do. _ ”

“Still,” she smiled sheepishly with gratitude on her face. “I owe you.”

He just shook his head and smiled to himself. It was good to have her back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Took me long enough to write this. I guess I just got swooped in by Voltron fandom, sorry bout that but I'm still continuing my Undertale stories.  
> Brenna is a character that is going to show up later in this story in person, also will be mentioned in Big Pizza Pie. So some drama is up ahead~ Hope you guys enjoy this.  
> Side note: This is not a story on how they get together at least not exactly. This is the story how their relationship progress. So I'm sorry if it's going too fast.  
> Beta Read by wonderful followmetoyourdoom. Thank you friend for continuing supporting me and these two idiots :)

**Author's Note:**

> So tell me watcha think. Good, bad? If anything - drop by my [tumblr](http://margoteve.tumblr.com) and talk with me :)
> 
> All the thanks to followmetoyourdoom for Beta Reading. Girl how do you even put up with me.
> 
> Quick headcanon (I have bunch of them I mostly don't mention in fics but you can ask for them): Grillby is perfectly fine drinking magical/monster drinks. Only human beverages that are not alcohol hurt him.


End file.
